Disclaimer: See previous chapter

Chap. 1

(Back, a few days ago)

"Captain. We're picking up a large energy surge. It could be an explosion."

On the bridge of the Mayship pirate vessel, Johnny sauntered over toward the front of the bridge toward the orange-clad girl that made the announcement. Beneath his shades, his eyes focused in on the radar monitor.

"Where?"

"Bearing 1683. That's not too far away." Turning to Johnny, she added. "Are we going to check it out?"

The dark-clad captain nodded and turned to the pilot. "March, head for bearing 1683. I'll check it out. May, you're in charge."

"Can I come?"

Johnny blinked as he turned around to see Dizzy standing behind him. He had not even realized that the young gear had been standing there. "I'm afraid not, Dizzy. I don't know what down there."

"I'll be really careful."

The captain felt himself frown at this. Without knowing the situation, he could be putting Dizzy in harms' way. The last thing he needed was an incident like what happened when the ship fell under attack, which resulted in Dizzy falling off the side of it. And if that wasn't bad enough, Testament found out about it and nearly killed him for it.

Just lucky he found her before things got out of hand...

"Yeah. Come on, Johnny."

He turned to May, who was giving him an innocent/cutesy look, and groaned. He was quite familiar with this look and he was not going to fall for it this time. But when he turned to Dizzy and saw she was giving him a similar look, he lowered his head. 'Figures she'd learn that from her.'

"Please."

Johnny sighed, taking note of her quiet plead. Dizzy may have been cooped on the ship for too long. Ever since that incident, he made sure to keep her out of trouble. But perhaps he may gone a little overboard. He may have wanted to keep her safe, but he couldn't treat her like a prisoner.

"Okay. But stay behind me, okay. If there's any trouble, just leave to me."

With a smile, Dizzy nodded a 'thank you' to him. Grabbing his sword, Johnny just shook his head as he walked with Dizzy toward the dropships.

'Somehow, I'm going to regret this.'

And he did. Upon arriving at the coordinates, Johnny and Dizzy discovered a large crater in the middle of what was now a charred wasteland. Trees, or what remained of them, were toppled and scattered all over the place. And if that wasn't enough, both of them sensed a strange energy emanating from the site itself.

"That energy..."

Johnny nodded to her. "Yeah, I know."

Even though it was found a couple of minutes ago, the magic level was still strong, rippling the air somewhat. Considering the damage to the area, it wasn't that much of a surprise. And he had a good guess as to what caused it.

"Must have been one heck of a battle here."

Meanwhile, Dizzy continued to scan the area. She took a particular note of the fallen trees that were around her. Dizzy has always been a lover of nature and seeing the destroyed trees made her sad. It was then that her eyes caught sight of something else.

"Johnny! Look!"

Rushing over, Johnny looked over at what she was pointing at and his eyes lifted above his glasses at what he saw. A human body lay beside one of the fallen trees. Upon closer inspection, Johnny saw that it was a male, whose white garments were shredded and covered in burn marks and tatters of blood. Johnny recognized him almost immediately.

"Ky Kiske."

Moving closer to him, Dizzy bent down to him; her hand brushing away one of his locks of blond hair, which was mattered and dusty. She remembered her first meeting with the former holy knight-now police officer. It was during the time when the bounty on her was in effect. Ky had been one of many to investigate the matter and one of the few to actually confront Dizzy...in battle.

Her attention was drawn back to her hand, which had settled onto his chest. Blinking, she soon realized what she was suddenly feeling. It was faint, but she could definitely make out a heartbeat.

"He's still alive."

"...And that's how we found you." Dizzy finished

"I see." Ky replied after hearing the entire story. His eyes closed briefly before opening again. "I guess...he's not so bad...for a pirate."

"No. But..."

"But?"

Taking the cloth that was on his head, she began to rinse it in the bowl of water. "He said that as soon as you are well enough, you'll have to go."

'Of course.' Ky thought. Even if he did help him, Johnny was still a wanted person. He probably didn't trust Ky enough to think that he wouldn't turn him in afterward

"I understand. In any case...thank you..."

Placing the cloth back on his head, Dizzy smiled. "You're welcome. Now get some rest."

Rising up, the young gear left Ky to rest. Exiting the room, she found Johnny standing on the wall just outside. Nodding a good night to him, Dizzy moved on, leaving Johnny by himself. The pirate captain glanced over at the door where their guest was now resting.

'I hope this was a good idea.'